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New Zealand Mum Who Left Her Baby in the Car

Did you hear about the mother in New Zealand who left her sleeping newborn alone in the car while she ran errands? Yeah. She really did that. She left a note on the baby's chest that said, "My mum's in doing the shopping, call her if I need anything," (it also listed the mom's cell number). Several people noticed the baby snoozing in the car and rather than calling the police, they waited a bit and when the mother didn't return right away, they called her and told her to come back.

Apparently they felt sorry for the mom and thought she must have made a bad decision due to her exhaustion from having a newborn.

Umm ... wow. Really?

Hey, I don't even have a newborn and I'm tired, but as much as I would love a break, I still can't leave my kids locked in the car with a note (written all cutesy from their perspective) while I take my time browsing the aisles of Target. Actually, my kids are old enough to write that note for me and I still can't leave them alone. Nope, I have to drag my kids into the store and subject everyone around us to their whines for food and their pleas for toys. If I'm not in the mood to tackle shopping with and extra 90 lbs of annoying kids hanging on me, then I pawn them off on the Hubs. I plan my shopping for when he's home and he can watch them. I call my mom or a friend and ask them to keep them for a bit. I don't tape a note to the window of my car that says, "We ate everything in the house and so our mom is getting the groceries. Please call her if you see that she didn't crack the window enough or if we're being stolen by a creeper. Thanks!"

WTH, lady?? Even though I'm wiped out, I always make sure that my kids are safe. That's what parents do. We signed up for this. We chose this life. We're all tired and we're all begging for a moment of peace and quiet, but we know it can't be at the expense of our kids' safety. We are responsible for these little people. We're raising human beings, not puppies! When you go out, you can't leave them locked in the car, or home in a crate. You can't feed them scraps from the table, or tie them to a tree when they pee on your floor or chew something up.

I don't think for a minute this woman did this because she was exhausted or whatever. That note is way too cute to be written in a moment of desperation. It's almost like something totes adorbs she found on Pinterest. No, a worn out mom would have written, "Need milk. Baby's asleep. You wake it, you take it."

I'm not saying this mom ranks up with there with the mom who abandoned her kid in the cart after she ran from security when she tried to steal a bathing suit from Wal-Mart and then was caught later that night partying at a night club while her kid was in emergency foster care. That mom is a terrible mom. This mom is just a dumb one who was lucky I didn't see her kid in the car.

32 comments:

Gross. Seriously. And I just read something, too, that says even on a pretty 72 degree day, the temp in a car can increase by 40 degrees in the sun -- and that can happen within the first 15 minutes of leaving it.

WTF? I was getting out of my car picking my daugher up from daycare about a month ago and noticed an infant in a carseat in the car parked next to mine, and no adult was around. I just stood there and kept trying to walk away but kept going back to the car because (and here's the more disturbing part), you couldn't SEE the baby. You could just see something moving under a blanket covering the entire car seat. Dad was inside picking up his other child and eventually came out, but my daughter's teacher saw exactly what I was staring at and when I went in, without my even saying a word she just said "I KNOW, right? What the hell?".

I try not to judge other moms...especially at the grocery store because it's a horrible place, but she's a crappy mom. My daughter NEVER slept...ever. When she fell asleep on the way to the store, I just drove around forever...I didn't freaking leave her in the car!

I would never do this myself--my husband and I are hypervigilant and paranoid parents--but perhaps society in New Zealand is different enough from that in the U.S. that this isn't as dangerous as it sounds? Just a thought.

I know that in some European countries it's perfectly ordinary and accepted to leave your child parked outside a store in his/her stroller for a moment while you step inside, so maybe this is a variation on that same theme.

Also if that person did take a photo and it IS real and they did not call the police they are nearly as much to blame. People are stupid and do stupid things to their kids but I'm sorry - if I saw a kid in danger like that, NO WAY i would just walk on saying "ah too bad for that defenseless little baby". There are times you NEED to butt in and I have done so twice and saved a child's life. Literally. A lady was on the NYC subway and allowed her baby to CRAWL right up to the edge of the subway platform. I was across the way and screamed for help as I couldn't get there. Just as the piece of shit mother picked up her kid BEGRUDGINGLY the train came and would have hit that kid who had been leaning over. I stand by my actions and all good parents need to make judgement calls and do the same.

This kind of stuff makes me crazy. Unfortunately, I hear of infant deaths all the time because where I live in sunny South Florida, the summer temps get up in the 90s and these asshat parents STILL leave their babies locked in the sweltering car while they make a quick stop for ciggies or booze. Last year one mom left her baby in the hot car while she got her hair cut for thirty minutes. I really think with most of these parents, it's a combination of stupidity and laziness. Either way they deserve to rot in jail...make that a boiling HOT jail cell...

Regardless if this incident was fake, it happens. I've seen it. The longest I have left my kids in the car is to pay for my gas when the pay at the pump isn't working, but even this has occurred only recently,(My kids are 7 and 4.) Even then I lock the doors and take the keys with me. But I can see my kids from the store. Before the past few months, I would take them inside.

You DON'T LEAVE YOUR KIDS IN THE CAR TO GO SHOPPING YOU PIECE OF SHIT PARENT. You just don't. There is a very good reason that the saying, "Better Safe than sorry!" exists. How would you ever forgive yourself? I know I couldn't if anything happen to my kids when I knowingly took a risk with them, and how DARE you decide that risking your kids well being is up to you?

Agreed! Many don't agree with the philosophy that it takes a village to raise a child, but if you are an ass hat who won't even try to parent properly, then someone needs to step in.

Besides the fact that the baby in your story was in danger, can I just say, GROSS! Who would let their baby crawl around in a subway station? I go nuts when my four year old crawls under the table at a restaurant! EW!

My friend left her dog in the car one time and a lady took it because she felt bad for it. (Mind you it wasn't hot and the dog was totally okay, but I digress...) If someone will take a dog, they'll take a baby and really ... this is just so not okay.

That's insane! I have a 4 month old and I couldn't imagine leaving her in the car! If I'm so sleep deprived that I can't take her in the store with me, I shouldn't be on the road driving anywhere to begin with, even to get her to sleep. Someone should've called the cops on her ass!

I saw two toddlers in a van happily watching a DVD all by themselves. I tried to open the doors, went into a couple stores in the stripmall to find the parent, went back to the van and yelled through the parking lot for someone to get them, and then did call the cops. While I was waiting for them (crying in my own car b/c I was so agitated- it was hot, I was worried and I had to go pick up my own kids but couldn't just leave these), the mom came out of one of the stores, smiling away and got in and left, completely oblivious and still ignorant. All this was about 15-20 minutes. I had to call back the sheriff's dept and tell them never mind. I never got to say anything to the mom, and was just completely upset w/ all of humanity. When I looked for the mom, the other ppl I talked to didn't even react. The store she was in was one of the ones I looked in! And, here's the kicker, it was a thrift store for the local Women's Shelter. Isn't that the kind of place that should be protecting children, and educating parents?! I often think about those kids, wondering if they thought I was a crazy woman trying to break into their car. That was 3-4 yrs ago and it still upsets me.

Wow...just wow. If she had enough wherewithal to leave a note, then she knew better than to leave the newborn in the car. You don't feel sorry for this idiot. You put her in jail for endangering her child. WTF.

We had a woman here who left her kid in the car while she ran into a casino to "gamble real quick".

It's like we need to figure out a way to only allow people to procreate once they have passed a quiz.

Question 1:

Is it okay to leave your kid(s) in the car?a) Depends on the how hot or cold it is outside.b) Only if I leave a note on them and my cell phone number.c) Only if I'm going to be real quick.d) All of the above.e) Never.

gather ye pitchforks, heat up the oil and pluck the chickens! Sharpen the knives and get ready to draw and quater woot woot! Its a good ol' American judegment party. Whip out the pistols and find a good hangin tree! Yeehaw! All perfect parents gather round! Grab your forks b/c its time for a good ol' fashioned mob (only this time online). Unless you are awake watching your children every single moment of every single day and you have NEVER EVER made a parenting mistake you don not get to sit in judgement. Besides not every one and every country in the world lives in a heightened level of fear of everything.

I have so much sympathy for any tired, overwhelmed mom. I must say that I've had THOUGHTS about leaving my son (when he had terrible colic for months on end) someplace alone. But I would never actually do it. Obviously. That does seem like a pretty low bar for decent parenting.

This makes me sick to my stomach! I know it is exhausting. I always give the 'mom look' to the other moms when we pass in the grocery store and for a change my toddler is being still and my infant is sleeping while theirs looks like monkeys hanging from the tops of the amazon...why?? Because I've been there. I've begged God to just make the noise and commotion stop long enough for me to buy milk without paying for public disturbance or having someone call child services because they think I'm neglecting my tantrum throwing two year old!BUT....YOU DON'T LEAVE YOUR CHILD! I mean seriously....it isn't even safe for a mom to walk her baby down the street without getting shot at and she leaves her child in the car...ALONE!! NO. Under no circumstances is this okay! What if the baby woke up? Does she not understand the long term mental and emotional damage it can cause from traumatically being abandoned for even that short time? My sons are 100% dependent on myself and my husband! Yes, Lil Mister is in child care but it was MY responsibility to ensure that child care meets the necessary standards for his mental, physical, and emotional growth! FOR NO REASON, is a child let alone an infant capable of being left alone.Again, this makes me sick and I really would LOVE to slap this woman across the face!

I would probably suspect I was on the TV show "What would you do?" and look around for a camera. Then I would OVER do the right thing to avoid John Q's question "why didn't you do anything?". Then I would be the psycho lady that flipped out.....I hope I never see anything like this....<3 Devan

I mean, WTF. I am a pretty awful mom. I've left my 9 year old in a running locked car to go pay for gas. but a fucking infant. REALLY! I also live in a small town! I actually prefer to pawn my kids off on anyone else to avoid taking them to the store.